Topic: Google TV

Adoption of the Google TV platform trails Apple's Apple TV device by a wide margin, and now the search company may be ready to rebrand its television offerings under the Android name in an effort to spark consumer interest.

While broadly compared to Apple TV, Google's new Chromecast product and the WebRTC protocol behind it aren't really comparable to Apple's AirPlay, the wireless video feature that is the main reason people are buying and using Apple TV.

Even as rumors of an Apple television set continue to swirl, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has claimed that company's Google TV platform will be embedded on the "majority" of televisions in stores by next summer.

Adobe revealed Wednesday that its cancellation of Flash development on mobile devices will also extend to TV-related "digital home devices," while Research in Motion promised to continue in-house development of Flash for its PlayBook tablet.

Google on Friday announced that it will issue a major update for its Google TV platform to some devices starting early next week, adding more applications from the Android Market as well as a simpler interface.

Executives for both Motorola and Google made clear on Monday that they intend to take advantage of Motorola's existing presence in the high-definition set-top box space, where the Google TV has failed to gain traction against the Apple TV.

Initial reports suggest that the long-delayed white iPhone 4 is 0.2mm thicker than its black counterpart and may not fit all cases. Also, Samsung revealed Thursday in its quarterly earnings report that its profit dropped to the company's lowest figure in almost two years. Finally, Logitech reported disappointing Google TV sales of just $5 million last quarter.

A new report claims that software giant Microsoft will challenge the Apple TV and Google TV platforms when it introduces a stripped down version of Windows for set top boxes and connected TVs later this year.

After announcing that sales of the Apple TV would top 1 million units last week, Apple has confirmed that it met the goal before Christmas, while Logitech has publicly denied a rumor that Google had requested a halt to its Google TV shipments in anticipation of a software update.

Apple announced Thursday that movies are now available on the iTunes Store in Japan, while the major TV networks in the U.S. have blocked Google TV from playing content from their websites through the Chrome browser.

Google on Monday looked to stir up excitement over its forthcoming Android-powered Google TV platform -- and temper demand for Apple's rival offering -- by previewing a portion of the content arsenal its building with the help of its media partners.